Luck
by venustus99
Summary: UPDATED: 4/21 with Chapter 6. NOW COMPLETE. Please note the rating change to M!    **If Puck really wants Lauren, she's going to make him know the real her first.
1. Chapter 1

People didn't understand. She wasn't holding out on him because she thought he was making a joke of her. She wasn't afraid that he was confused and didn't really find her sexy – I mean, come on - who could deny that she was a hot piece? What she wanted to be sure of that it was more than just lust. She needed to know that he wanted _her_ not just her body. She knew she was a lot to handle, but there were also so many parts of her that no one knew.

People thought she was a good wrestler because she is big and intimidating. The truth was she worked damned hard. She was an athlete. She studied her sport, she trained, she kept a strict regime during her season. She was state champion because she was the best in the state – period. She also was caring beyond measure. Anyone who saw her with her little sister could tell that in an instant. She was also way more than a smart ass, she was smart. For real smart. AP physics smart. Straight A's smart.

She just wanted to make sure he knew the whole Lauren before she allowed him behind her walls. Honestly, she needed to know more than his sexy-as-hell badass side too. Because if those things jived together, God knows the physical chemistry would be H-O-T. Getting there would be the trick.

"Come on, babe! It's only a couple hours out of your weekend. How busy could you possibly be?" Puck slumped against the closed lockers next to hers. He didn't want to admit it, but he was getting kind of sick of begging her. He knew they could be great together, why wouldn't she give him a chance to prove it? I mean, he joined the _celibacy club_ to show her how serious he was. The Puckmeister. In CELIBACY CLUB. Couldn't she see that joining that club was like cutting off Solomon's hair to him – and it was all for her.

She could see it in his dark eyes. He wasn't just trying to get her alone in a dark room for a few hours; he really wanted to do something nice for her. "Okay, one movie. But then you have to come to my house and help me and watch some of special videos."

"Oh baby, if those are what I think they are… Oh god, I think I may be having a heart attack," he said clutching his chest and sliding slightly down the lockers.

"Shut it, Puckerman! Not THAT kind of special," she said and accented the word 'that' with a slug to his arm.

He rubbed his arm and a smile spread across his face, "I'll watch anything you want me to, babe. Let me plan the movies, I'll pick you up Saturday at 8 o'clock."

"Make it 4 o'clock and you've got a date," she smirked at Puck's stupid grin and outstretched elbow. She took his arm and he walked her to her next class, hundreds of teenaged eyes glued to them in either puzzlement or disgust (I'm looking at you, Santana).

All day Friday, Puck worried about what kind of movie to take his special lady to see. He actually went to all his classes, he was that distracted. When he texted Artie to ask him, Artie responded with "The scarier the better – makes the girls cuddle close & b ready 4 sum movie theater action." But he knew Lauren wouldn't be scared of that fake shit, she was waaay too badass for that. Finn suggested the cheesiest of all cheesy romance movies – like princesses and unicorns and shit. "That way they think of you as their prince charming." Leave it to Finn to put a girl into diabetic coma with his overly sweet, stupid-ass ideas. God, this actually giving a shit about a date was hard!

Lauren's Saturday morning went like most of her Saturdays. She woke up early and hit the library for a couple of hours. Midterms were coming up and she was determined to keep her A's, even if that douche canoe from her World History class had it in for her. She heard he hated fat people and she was going to make him give her an A whether he liked it or not.

By the time he brain felt like it would split at the seams, it was time to head over to the gym and get some quality mat time in. She had to get her workouts in if she wanted to keep her state champ title. She really liked this time though – it was quiet in the gym except for the sounds of Lauren and her teammate trying to best each other. They worked hard testing new holds or escapes. She loved the feeling of being in control and rarely met a hold she couldn't get out of. She liked the hard work, emptying her mind of anything but how her body could work. Those one-on-one practices seemed to go by so fast, and soon she was on her way home.

After lunch and a shower, Lauren stood in front of her closet in her underwear frowning. Not that she would tell anyone this in a million years, but she was agonizing over what to wear. She knew Puck found her sexy, 'But what will make him drool…' she thought. She enjoyed teasing him more than she cared to admit. She closed her eyes and tried to think about the times she caught him staring at her in class or during glee practice. She chose elements from some of those outfits to best compliment her curves. A nice, low V-neck just to show a peek or two at the girls, jeans that hugged her ass, her favorite cardigan. And damned, she did look fine – even better than normal! Maybe she should think about these things more often.

Puck rang the doorbell at 3:54pm.

"You're early, Puckerman. I should make you wait in the car," Lauren said as she opened the door. She watched his mouth drop and his eyes slide down her body. He actually seemed lost for words for a second before his brain caught up.

"Damn, baby! What are you trying to do to me? You look sexy as hell."

Lauren couldn't help but smirk, "I know, right?" But Puck wasn't looking like a scrub either. His faded black concert T-shirt (that was probably older than he was) hugged his biceps and stretched across his broad shoulders. And that crooked, sexy smile make her quiver a little inside in spite of how solid she looked on the outside. She grabbed her bag and snuck a peek of his ass in those jeans as he turned around to face the street. _'Hot damn, that boy has an ass of a Greek god.'_ She saw him hold out his hand but brushed right past him on the way to his truck. He had to trot for a second to catch up to her, "Hey, don't you need me to go on this date?" he teased her as he caught up, right as she reached the passenger door.

"You or one of the others on the long list of men lining up for the Zizes." She didn't turn her face to him so he couldn't see the grin spread across her face – damn, she loved teasing him. She didn't realize he could see her reflection in the car window. He knew she liked him more than she let on. He hand grabbed the door handle seconds before his, "I can handle a car door myself, Puckerman. I'm a big girl, you know."

"In all the best ways, babe," he responded as he strode around the truck and hopped into the driver's seat.

"What are we going to see? It better not suck." Lauren climbed in the truck and buckled her seat belt. The seat belt slid right between her breasts and she caught Puck glancing between her chest and the road as they drove toward the theater.

"You better just get a good look in at this red light before you kill us both. I am too pretty to die young." Puck looked a bit sheepish at being caught staring.

"I wasn't trying to be an ass, but you really do look hot today. Maybe this celibacy thing is getting to me a little bit too." He laid his hand on her leg while they talked at the red light. Lauren noticed he didn't pull it away as they started driving again. She didn't say much the rest of the drive to the theater, but her pulse did seem to get faster and faster the longer she felt the heat from his hand on her thigh. He was pleasant surprised he didn't lose a hand for this move, but he was glad that maybe she was letting her guard down a little. His mind wandered to the other things she may let him do in the dark of the theater.

Puck must have bought their tickets in advance because they didn't even stop at the box office. No clues yet what they were seeing.

"What movie Puckerman?" demanded Lauren, but Puck just smiled as he walked towards the snack bar.

"You'll see. Don't you want some candy?" He knew her weakness for the sweet stuff, and no she didn't mean his ass in those jeans. Her eyes scanned the candy counter.

"You know I'm in season, so only if they have the good stuff. Dammit!" Lauren didn't see any of her favorites. "I'll just get popcorn. With butter."

They carried their own tubs of popcorn and drinks, Lauren right next to Puck, even slightly brushing up against his arm. His pulse quickened. "I think you'll like this movie," he said as they turned toward the movie Due Date. "I remember when you said you thought Zach Galifianakis is really funny."

"Almost as funny as me," Lauren said as they walked into the dark room. But really, she couldn't believe he remembered a stupid detail like that about one of their conversations.

The room was nearly empty because who goes to the movies at 4:15 on a Saturday afternoon? Puck started to turn into a middle row until Lauren kept walking saying, "I like the back better."

"Oh yeah baby, you'll like me in the back," Puck waggeled his eyebrows and gave his best sexy face.

Lauren raised one eyebrow and pursed her lips, "You would be so lucky to get that glorious view, Puckerman."

"God help me, I'm trying." She tried not to smile, but the corner of her mouth rose and gave her away.

They sat next to each other, legs and arms gently touching. Right as the opening credits began to roll, Puck shifted in his seat _'I swear to God, if he tries to mack on me this early in the movie, I will punch him,'_ Lauren though. But he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a box of Junior Mints. He leaned over but kept his eyes on the screen. She could feel his hot breath on her neck and failed to suppress the shiver that went up her back. "I knew the candy sucked here and these are your favorites." His whisper made his voice even huskier and way sexier. He settled back in his seat and laid his arm on the arm rest. It was her turn to make a move.

Lauren and Puck laughed long and hard at the movie. He snuck a few peeks of her chest bouncing with laughter and how cute she looked wiping the tears from her eyes after a particularly funny joke. One in scene in particular was so hilarious, she slapped his knee in a fit of laughter. He waited for to realize she was touching him and retract, but she didn't. As she sat back in her seat her hand even slid a bit further up his leg. He pants grew a little tighter. _'Okay, this celibacy club is making me into a 13 year old kid all over again.'_ He quickly covered her hand with his partly to show her how much he liked the small sign of affection and partly to keep her from sliding her hand any higher and finding his "predicament."

The movie ended and they both stood up and started shuffling out of the dark theater without much talking. No one dared be the first one to say anything about their tiny display of mutual affection.

"Back to your house now?" Puck asked as they pulled away from the theater.

"How about some pizza first, I am starving!" Lauren said still feeling a bit drunk from the feeling of his hand on hers for nearly an hour. "Valentino's is the best."

"Oh I know, I have tried them all," Puck said smiling. Not that there were thousands of pizza places in Lima, Ohio.

Dinner was uneventful. They shared a pepperoni and sausage pizza and a small booth with a cheesey red and white checkered tablecloth. They retold and laughed over some of the funniest parts of the movie. Puck made several suggestive comments about Lauren's obvious appreciation of sausage. They were having a good time, so They hardly notice how much time had passed until Lauren looked at her watch and almost yelped. "Shit sticks, it's almost 8:00, let's get going Puckerman!" Puck looked confused but willingly let her grab his hand and pull him toward the exit.

They arrived back at Lauren's house and Lauren nearly scampered up the front sidewalk to her house. She was in a hurry and Puck knew it, if only from all the "Jesus, you drive like a _Grandma_, Puckerman!" comments he got on the way to her house.

Two people he could only assume were the parental figures were waiting by the door with their jackets on, ready to leave. "Hi Mom, Dad. This is Noah. I told you about him. Sorry we're late."

Mrs. Zizes was a tall but average build woman. Solid but not large. She was pretty and looked very kind. "Don't worry honey, you're right on time. We're just heading out. Ella just went to bed. Have fun tonight, be good. We'll be home late."

Mr. Zizes, on the other hand, was a mountain of a man. At least 6'5" and 350 pounds, minimum. He stared down Puck.

"Mr. and Mrs. Zizes, nice to meet you," Puck nearly stuttered. What the hell? He was normally awesome with parents.

"Noah, nice to meet you. Watch yourself," Mr. Zizes almost growled.

The big man then turned to his daughter and kissed her on the forehead, "Have fun, Baby Girl." Puck had to use every muscle he had to swallow back the giggle that threatened to escape his throat seeing Lauren treated like someone's little girl.

As her parents walked out the door, Lauren wheeled around catching Puck's mouth coming open with her pointer finger in his face. "You EVER so much as whisper a word about 'Baby Girl' to any living soul and I will **end **you." Puck just grinned as he silently closed his mouth. This was turning out to be an excellent evening.

"So what about these _special_ tapes we need to watch?" Puck said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Lauren nodded her head in the direction of the living room couch where there was a stack of DVDs and a spiral notebook on the coffee table in front of the couch. "My next big competition is coming up soon. I wrestle Matt Parker who just moved into the Toledo Public School district. People say he is gonna be my biggest competitor at state's this year, so I need to study tape." Lauren explained as she moved easily around the living room, kicking off her shoes, loading the first DVD in the player and grabbing her notebook and remote. Puck settled in on the middle seat of the couch, knowing she's have to sit next to him this way. She sat down next to him, tucking her leg under her body and settling her notebook and remote on her lap.

"I understand, we watch tape of other schools all the time in football. But we just started that this year with Coach Beiste."

"Yeah, and now you guys don't suck… as bad." Lauren smirked a little at him.

"Who won the big game this season, huh, babe?" he teased as he tried to put his arm around her slyly.

"Dude, I am not kidding or teasing you. This is serious. I intended to learn something from these topes tonight and if you are just going to try to distract me or get all up on this, you can just leave now." There was no hint of her normal joking in her voice. She was serious and he knew it instantly.

"I can help, really, I swear." And he actually was interested. He watch the screen with her, asking what she was writing down each time he scribbled something in her notebook. "See where he put his arm on the mat there? Most people would put it up higher, but look – it opens up a huge hole to escape that this guys didn't see." She would rewind and show him what she was talking about. He was amazed she could see that kind of strategy as much as the two guys were moving. He started getting into it. Lauren changed the DVD and the same wrestler appeared again, this time with a different opponent.

"This is the state championship from Indiana where this Matt kid lived before. I heard it was a crazy intense match." She wasn't kidding, these two wrestlers were out for blood. A few quick moves or surprising twists actually made them both jump and Puck muttered "Oh shit!" at least twice.

"Wait! Wait! Did you see that?" Puck nearly yelled into Lauren's ear.

"What the hell? See what?" Lauren asked as Puck grabbed for the remote. He rewound and hit the slow motion button. He was standing up pointing at the screen, his face lit up with excitement. "Look, right there! Look at the way his legs are in during that transition. You could easily get your leg around behind his knee and flip him like a pancake!" He was almost jumping up and down at this point.

"Holy shit, you're right!" Lauren had no idea how he caught that, especially when she didn't even see it.

"Matt Parker, you just showed me your vulnerable side. You're going DOWN!" Lauren jumped up – she was as excited as Puck was at this point. He grabbed her in a big bear hug in celebration.

They broke apart quickly as they both herd the small voice calling from the stairs, "Lulu?" A little girl, no older than 5, tentatively crept down the stairs in her pink Dora PJs. "Is that you?"

"Oh hi, sweetie. I'm sorry we didn't mean to be so loud and wake you up." Lauren's voiced audibly softened as she walked towards the little girl. She picked the dark-haired little girl up easily. The girl laid her head on Lauren's shoulder and looked questioningly at Puck. "Who is he, Lulu? He has weird hair."

Puck watched the scene unfold with wide eyes. When the girl mentioned his hair, his hand flew up to his signature Mohawk. "Ella, this is my friend Noah. Noah, this is my little sister Ella." Ella whispered something in Lauren's ear and Lauren chuckled a little, "Yeah, I think so too. Why don't you get a glass of water and go back to sleep?" The little girl jumped down and scampered off toward the kitchen.

"Lulu?" Puck asked.

"Family nickname," Lauren responded without even a joke of mention of inflicting physical harm. She didn't let on but her body was still humming from their brief but intense hug.

"Goodnight, sleep tight!" Lauren called to Ella as the little girl climbed the stairs back to her room before turning back to Puck.

"Well, I think we watched enough wrestling for one night. I've got an episode on Conan on Tivo if you wanna watch." Lauren actually sounded hopeful. Puck just patted the seat next to him on the couch and draped his arm over the back of the couch while Lauren grabbed the remote and sat down. She actually snuggled her body up against Puck's side and didn't make a peep when his arm fell across her shoulders. The heat between their bodies sizzled and he snuck one quick look at the new vantage point of her chest before he sighed and relaxed. Maybe this thing between them was going to go someplace.


	2. Chapter 2

If Lauren was physical able to be nervous, today would be the day. It was the day of her big match against Matt, the Indiana transplant who was rumored to have told people he would grow a second head before he would be beaten by a girl. Lauren laughed in her thoughts_, 'That just proves he has never seen me wrestle. No one who has seen what I can do on the mat has ever called me a girl.'_

Lauren had her uniform and her game face on when she walked into the gym with the rest of her team. Her match wasn't up first, but she liked it that way. She liked cheering for and encouraging her teammates to get her fully pumped up before she wrestled. She took this time to focus on the energy in the room and the energy of her team. She ignored the people in the stands and focused on winning. Her body was primed and she was ready to get this match done and placed in her "W" column.

Finally her match was called and she got up and started toward the mat. She breathed deeply, focused on her body, and replayed some of the moves she had seen on the tapes of Matt's previous matches. She cleared her head and to her the gym went quiet. There was nothing left but her and her opponent. She locked eyes with him and gave him a cocky half smile. _'It's on now bitch. Welcome to the Zizes show.'_ The whistle blew and her body moved on training and instinct.

The first two two-minute periods passed and it was an even match. Matt was giving her the most run for her money so far this season. What he didn't count on was that just made Lauren want the win even more. Her muscles burned and ached with the good pain from working hard. She could tell from her rough score she kept in her head that they should be dead even in point. Matt got her locked down in a hold, but he didn't have Lauren securely held. She knew he would have to move soon and waited to see if he would use the fool transition move Puck caught him in on tape. She could feel him start to move and sure enough, he made the same exact move. She quickly wrapped her leg around his and swept his legs out from under him at the same time flipping their positions and pinning him flat against the mat. He had no recourse. Matt tried to twist and move out from Lauren's hold, but it only came across as a tiny twitch. The ref's counting brought the crowd's sound back to Lauren. By the time she heard the magic count of "THREE" she could hear the whole crowd screaming.

Only after she lifted up off the mat and got her "Good job, Zizes" from her coach did Lauren lift her eyes to the crowd. She always looked for her family after a match was over. She was beaming as she spotted her Mom and Dad… and there was little Ella, sitting right on the lap of one Mr. Noah Puckerman, right next to her mom. Her eyes must have gone wide as she saw the together because Ella started waving frantically and screaming "Hi Lulu!" at the top of her lungs. Her mom flashed a knowing grin at Lauren and nodded her head slightly in Puck's direction. Her dad's face was a complete mix of happy for his daughter's amazing win and pissed about a boy being so obviously involved in his girl's world. Puck… well he looked fucking hot, that was a given. But he had a look on his face she couldn't place right away – happy, and proud, and something else. Not the normal leering, lusty look… more like… affection, appreciation… she couldn't tell. She shook the weird feeling from the pit of her stomach. Now was not the time to try to figure out feelings – now was the time to revel in her awesomeness. On step closer to the state championship, baby!

Lauren was busy reading a text on her phone as she walked out of the locker room after the meet – hair wet from the shower thrown in a messy knot on her head, wearing "McKinley Wrestling" sweats and a gym bag slung across her chest. "Great job, honey! So proud of you. Taking Ella home for a nap, see you later. – Mom." Lauren's mom was new to this whole texting thing and she thought it was cute that she wanted to tell Lauren where she was all the time.

"OH! My! God! Lauren! That was amazing. You did so good and I thought you wouldn't win at first but then you totally pinned that guy and his face was all shocked and it was so so so so amazing..."

"Christ, Berry! Slow down!" Lauren had to almost yell to get the pint-sized girl to stop bouncing and pay attention. Lauren had been so distracted by finding Puck in the stands with her family that she didn't realize that half the Glee club had come to her match too. Standing around waiting to congratulate her was Mike and Tina, Rachel, Brittany and Artie, Mercedes, and Puck slinking behind them all, sheepish grin of his face.

"Girl, you kicked some serious ass! I had no idea you could do that," Mercedes said.

Artie chimed in with, "Dude went flyin'!"

Lauren's cheeks grew a shade pinker with pride and embarrassment that her gleemates – okay, okay her friends' – praise. "How did you guys know about the meet?" Lauren asked hoping they wouldn't notice her flush. Only one of them did and he beamed at her from behind their gleemates.

"Puck told us this was a big match for you, so we wanted to come make sure you knew how many Zizes fans you have," Tina added sweetly. They started walking towards the exit and Puck fell back to walk next to Lauren.

"Thanks guys. I'm really glad you came and saw first-hand how much I kick ass. " A shiver went up Lauren's spine as Puck's hand rested on the small of her back while they walked. She didn't knock him away or even give him an evil eye.

He walked with her over to her car and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Babe, you were… amazing," as she unlocked her car door. Their friends had dispersed to their cars or friends giving them a ride home. Lauren turned around to face Puck who, by this time was leaning into her just a few inches from her face. Her face grew hot again and her heart beat quickened. "Th… thanks for bringing everyone here." She couldn't believe she just stuttered. _'Get it together, Zizes!'_ she thought. His smile grew wickedly wider.

"I'll text you later," Puck's words were breathy as leaned father in, hands pressed against her car on either side of her body. His mouth met hers and Lauren's eyes grew wide before a soft purr escaped from her throat as her eyes closed. "Mmmmm, just… amazing," Puck's husky voice sounded as he pulled away and turned to head to his truck without another word. Lauren had to take a second to make sure her knees would work before she could turn around to open her car door.

Monday after school she was at her locker, getting ready to head into Glee rehearsal. Most days after school she came to her locker to find a certain mohawked boy waiting for her, but not today. In fact, the day had seemed very mundane. At first it pissed her off when she won a big wrestling match over a weekend and then heard not a peep about it at school on Monday. The football meatheads announced their wins for like decades after, strutting around like proud but mentally disabled farm animals.

So she was used to the quiet after a win, even if it was an amazing win like she had last weekend. But not seeing Puckerman, now that could make a girl grumpy. She slammed the locker door shut and turned on her heels just in time to see him jogging towards her. In a baseball uniform. _'Sweet baby Jesus, it is highly unfair to put him in that uniform while I am trying to be mad at him!' _The click of his cleats on the floor, the uniform shirt tight across his broad chest, the pants. Oh god, the pants. They hugged every muscle in his legs. She watched the muscles move and flex as he trotted over to her. Her eyes slipped further up and she tried to make it look like she was not looking at his package, which she totally was.

"Try not to drool, babe."

"Shut it Puckerman. You look like a juvenile delinquent Ken doll, in those pants," Lauren tried to cover her appreciation of his physical form with another smart-ass comment.

"But I promise," he leaned in and lowered his voice, "I'm anatomically correct. Wanna see?" as he hooked his thumbs in the waistband of the tight pants. Her eyes grew a little wider before he controlled her reaction and crossed her arms over her chest. He loved actually being able to leave her speechless every once in a while. It didn't happen very often. "Anyway, I have a special baseball tryout practice today, so I won't be at Glee. I just wanted you to know I missed you this weekend. We didn't get to **properly** celebrate your win." Puck cocked on eyebrow up.

"You're right. I didn't get any flowers or candy or fancy dinners. Or even any massages." Puck's mouth went dry for a second imagining that idea. She could dish out innuendo just as much as he could. Puck started to come in close to her, trying to make a move. "You better be careful, Puckerman. Those pants won't hide what would happen if you tried to kiss me again." She winked at him as she ducked under his arm and headed into the choir room. He just smiled and shook his head a clicked his way out to tryouts. _'Next time,'_ he thought.

Later that week, Lauren and her teammates were finishing up a weight lifting session when she saw the baseball team come in from their field and into their locker room. Her first thought was to wait for Puck after their practices to say hello_. 'What the fuck is wrong with me?'_ But the idea of just going home without talking to him was an even worse idea than acting like a girl.

She cleaned up and changed clothes in the empty girls' locker room. Sometimes it was nice to be the only girl on the team, no chatty Barbies complaining about the 12 m&m's they ate that day. She leaned on the short section of wall between the doors of the girls' and boys' locker rooms. She watched as all her wrestling teammate left followed by what seemed like most of the baseball team. She looked up as Finn walked out of the locker room. He nudged her with his elbow. "Hey Puck's the last one in there," he said with a wink.

'_Hmmmmm, this could be fun!'_ she thought as she waited for the hallway to clear. She looked down the hall both ways a few hundred times before she slipped in the door labeled "BOYS". At first she didn't see or hear anything and wondered if maybe he slipped out among the groups of other guys. But then she heard rustling and odd noises coming from the area around the coaches' offices. There he was, back in his jeans and T-shirt, hunched over a can (_'A garbage can?' _she wondered). He was picking up baseballs, turning them around and around in his hand and then dropping them into his duffel bag. He had taken maybe 5 or 6 before she said, "You know, stealing those could violate your probation."

Puck's head snapped up and Lauren immediately felt her heart sink as she saw the panicked look on his face. "No, no. They were throwing these away. Look," he held one up for her to see, "these are the ones that get really chewed up during practice. Coach says they are too beat up to use." Puck had never seemed so eager to explain himself before. Even he knew that if it was anyone else he would have scoffed at his probation and made some joke about the Puckanator being too badass for Juvie to contain him. _'Why is it different with her?'_ he thought.

Lauren walked over to him, closing the distance between them quickly. She grabbed the ball from his hand, "Why do you need so many… balls anyhow?" she said raising her eyebrows at him.

"I've got more balls than I could ever need, babe. These aren't for me. Plus… what the hell? What are you doing in here anyway?" Puck asked like the light bulb had just lite up above his head.

She slid her hand down Puck's chest, "Well, I was coming in to surprise you," she said and then quickly withdrew her hand just as his eyes were getting that lusty look, "But now I am way too curious about who is in such desperate need for balls that you would steal them some." His face fell almost like someone had let the air out of his tires when he realized his sexy surprise wasn't happening now.

"It no big deal, really. Let's just go. Want to come to my house? My mom is working a double tonight."

"The fact you're not making a joke about it and you refuse to tell me means it is a big deal. You can trust me, I promise."

"Babe, it's not that I don't trust you. It's just… it's stupid. No biggies. Let's get out of here," Puck said grabbing Lauren's hand.

"I'll make you a deal. I'll go with you to your house if you tell me what's going on with you."

He hesitated for a second, but a chance to get Lauren alone with no parents around and the promise of no interruptions… "Okay, okay. I will tell you once we get to my house. I just want to get out of here." He grabbed her hand and Lauren could tell by the tone of his voice that now wasn't the time to push or tease. She let me hold tightly her hand tightly in his down the halls of the school and all the way to his truck. And if she was being totally honest with herself, it felt amazing to hold is hand in the hallways of this school that could be so cruel. Granted the halls were empty, but it was still felt like… freedom.

Once they both climbed into his truck, Puck reached over and grabbed Lauren's hand again without hesitation or trepidation. It felt like the natural thing to do. It satisfied a tiny part of the desire he had to always be touching her, skin to skin. If palm to palm was the only way she'd let him right now, he would take it. Once again his mind wandered to the question_, 'Why is everything so different with her?'_ If it had been any girl in his past that had refused his advances this long, he's have been out the door with another chick who was already waiting. The very unPuck-like fact was that he hadn't even thought about that. It wasn't about getting into someone, anyone's pants. It was about her. Sure, he wanted in those pants in the worst kind of way, but he wanted her to let him in. To want him too.

"Okay, so slight detour. This is who the ball were for," Puck said flatly as he pulled his truck into the empty parking lot of the Boys and Girl Club. Lauren must have shot him an utterly confused look because he continued on, in a nearly pained tone. "So… um… I used to come here a lot when I was a kid. My mom works a lot and my dad… well, he just wasn't around. So my mom sent me here after school to stay out of trouble. They had this guy, I think he was a college kid getting some volunteer credit or something. Well he started a, like, a baseball thing. He taught us the basics and we even played a few games. So yeah, it was fun for me and helped, I guess, delay my delinquency. And yeah, so I rode by here last year and went inside for like old time's sake and they didn't have anything like that anymore. So, yeah, well… um, I decided to help. So I take the balls coach throws away for here. For these guys." Puck didn't look at Lauren once until his speech was done. He didn't want her to think he was a pussy or some broken ass soul from a damaged childhood. Everyone deals with their own shit, that was just his. When he finally looked up at her, he didn't see anything he feared. No pity or disgust, just Lauren.

"That's really fucking cool, Puckerman. Can I come help? How many girls do you teach? You DO let girls play, DON'T YOU?" she asked with a giant grin lighting up her face.

"Well, none of the girls have asked to play. So none, yet. But abso-fucking-lutely you can come with me. Next Tuesday is the next time I come here. " He felt his chest almost tighten with each of his words. He wasn't sure what exactly he was feeling, but it was wonderful and utterly fucking frightening at the same time.

"Miss Lauren, is Mister Puck your boooooyfriend?" one of the little girls asked Lauren about 30 seconds after she met her. She looked around, hoping Puck was too occupied with the throng of little boys surround him to have heard the question. But Lauren had no such luck, because his eyes quickly met hers. He grinned at her and mouthed "Well?" She looked down at the little girl staring up at her and said, "Maybe soon, sweetie. But come on, we need to show these boys how GIRLS kick some hiney in baseball!"

It was the first league game of his season, but Puck wasn't nervous. Sports didn't make him nervous. Very few things in his life made him nervous or scared. Not that many people knew, but Juvie scared him. The idea of losing his mom scared him. Letting Lauren get away, that scared him. _'When the hell did THAT happen?'_ he wondered to himself. He continued to pull on all his gear and was, as usual the last one left in the dugout. Catchers had more equipment to wear than an astronaut. He Was pulling his mask over his face as he trolled out behind home plate. He double, then triple checked his family jewel protection before he squatted down to catch the first few warm-up pitches. It felt good to get back down in the dirt again.

The thing about catchers' masks is that you don't have much peripheral vision. So he didn't even see Lauren sitting in the stands until it was his time up at bat. She finally caught his eye as he was swinging the bat around warming up his shoulders. She was cheering and clapping for him, the lone one standing in the sea of students who turned out for the first game. It didn't hurt that it was the first mild, spring-like day Ohio had seen in what seemed like ages.

Lauren felt the sun warm her cheeks, but nothing warmed her body more than the sight of him_. 'I wonder if he saw me?'_ she thought. It didn't matter though, she wasn't here to be seen, she was just here to be present for him. To cheer for him. To be a witness. Dammit, she just wanted to be a part of his life, not that feeling that way made any logical sense to her. _'Oh fuck, when logic goes out the window, I guess I am in deep now.'_

The game was honestly closer in score than it should have been. McKinley's opponents were clearly a better team. But the fire that came with a crowd of supporters helped the team make important plays and avoid mistakes. It was the bottom of the ninth, and the away team was at bat. McKinley was up by just one run. They were trying desperately to hold onto the victory that they could almost taste. Just three outs and they could call it theirs. One batter stuck out. The crowd let out a collective sigh. One down. The next batter found his sweet pitch and hit a double. Everyone's tension was mounting. Batter #3 struck out, but as the Tiger's celebrated a little too much, the runner stole 3rd base. Everyone in the stands fell silent and watched the pitches go by, one after the other. On the third pitch, the batter swung and made contact with a craaaaaaaack! As he crossed first base, the runner on third got the signal from his coach to make a run for home. Lauren jumped to her feet, watching in slow motion it seemed as the thrown came in from the outfield. Puck caught the ball and waited in front of the plate, ready for what was sure to be a collision.

"SAFE!" rang out the words of the umpire. Lauren felt her body moving down the stairs before she knew what was happening. He stands erupted with her. "NO WAY, UMP!" "Are you blind?" "BAD CALL!" The runner jumped up and ran over to his team. Puck just dusted himself off and got back into position. They had one more out to take care of. Arguing or getting in the Ump's face wasn't going to do anything for his team. He just needed to do his job. The final batter grounded out. High school rules didn't allow for extra innings, so this game ended up a tie.

Puck trotted over to where Lauren was standing along the chain link fence separating the stands from the field. "You got robbed! You totally fucking had that guy, I saw the whole thing!" Lauren was ranting as Puck peeled his mask off. He smiled at her. 'Weird' she thought. And before she could get anymore ranting out, he leaned over the waist-high fence, pulled her roughly to him and kissed her hard. Her mouth opened in shock more than anything else. He took that opportunity to slip his tongue into her, tasting her, meeting her tongue. His hands were buried in her hair and he didn't pull away until both of their lungs were screaming for air.

"No matter babe, you can't win 'em all," came his explanation before he ran back to his team in the dugout. Lauren could feel the hundreds of eyes on her as she stood glued in place. He mind was totally blank and her heart was about to beat out of her chest. "Whoa, that was a good game," she mumbled to the other fans near her and she turn in place and started out on wobbly legs toward her car. She didn't wonder about it but the texts and pictures were already flying around her classmates. This was going to be the talk of the century.


	3. Chapter 3

So the problem with having a pool cleaning business in Ohio was the whole winter thing. And winter in Ohio is nothing to scoff at. It was finally starting to thaw out in Lima, so Puck was starting to get a few phone calls here and there to begin getting things ready, cleaning pool areas, checking for leaks, stuff like that. But it's not like the money was pouring in. Most years, it wasn't a big deal for Puck. Having a single mom meant they've a lot of tight times. This year, the difference was that prom was coming up and he actually wanted to go. Well, more than that, he wanted to take Lauren and make sure she had fun. He needed advice, but he was stumped who to talk to. His default was to talk to Lauren – she was crazy smarter than people gave her credit for and she could almost always help him come up with solutions for his problems. But this involved her, so he needed someone else. The guys wouldn't work – he needed a girl's opinion. Santana was still too pissed to help, Brittany was like talking to a sack of oranges, Quinn was… well, since Beth came into and left their lives in a matter of hours, he couldn't even bear to talk with Quinn in fear he would they would talk about her. He wasn't ready for that yet. _ 'I guess Rachel will work,_' he thought, hoping she wouldn't make this a nightmare.

Puck hung back in the choir room after glee rehearsal was over for the afternoon. Rachel always stayed behind to practice extra. "Hey, can I ask a favor?"

Rachel looked up, surprised who was coming to her for help. Their last encounter ended up really screwing the young singer over in the romance department. But on the other hand, she loved to feel like the mother-hen leader of this group. "Sure, Noah. As long as it doesn't involve making out or breaking anyone's heart."

"No, I just need some girl advice and I was wondering if you could help me." Puck saw Lauren glance in the room as she walked by. "But maybe not here, can we hang out and talk or something?"

"Sure, want to go get hot chocolate at the Lima Bean after school tomorrow?"

* * *

"Uh, sure. That sounds fine." Puck was not the coffee shop kind of guy. All the hipsters kind of made his skin itch, but he really needed some help. "I'll meet you there."

Thank god Rachel was there when Puck arrived because he felt like a bull in a china shop just walking into this place. He found her quickly and sat down at the small table.

"You don't want anything to drink, Noah? You know tea with honey and lemon has been known for centuries to soothe a singer's voice and…"

"Yeah, no, I'm fine," he cut her off. "I just want to talk."

"Okay, please think of me as your confidante, strictly platonic, of course. I assume this has to do with Lauren?" He was actually kind of surprised that Rachel had picked up on his and Lauren's budding relationship. Either he was more transparent with his feelings than he thought, or Rachel had actually started paying attention to more than just herself. In reality, it was a healthy mix of both of those things.

"Yeah, the thing is – I want to ask Lauren to prom."

Rachel, as was her usual MO, cut him off long before he was done talking. "Oh, I am sure she would say yes. I think it is clear she returns your affections, however unconventional they may be."

"Yeah, okay. I'm glad you think so. The problem is fundage. I have saved enough for stuff like the tickets, tux, flowers, stuff like that. But I know girls at McKinley expect some elaborate display to ask girls to pram and I just don't have the money to do some stupid shit like that." Puck explained quickly to make sure he got all his words out before Berry interrupted again.

"Ooooh, you should sing her a song! I know the perfect song, it's from this wonderful little-known Broadway musical called…" This time it was Puck's turn to cut her off.

"Yeah, how did I guess that is what you would say? Every other dude in Glee is gonna end up doing that. This has got to be something _different_." Puck's voice was twinged with sadness.

"Listen, most girls don't care at all about how flashy or expensive things are. They just want to know that you took the time to think about them, what they would like, and that you planned and worked for something that was just to make them feel special. If Lauren likes you, and I'm and pretty sure she does, she probably spends a lot of time thinking about you. She just wants to know that you spend your time thinking about her too." Rachel explained, thinking about her own broken love life. When she was done talking, she looked out the coffee shop window and the Puck could see the forlorn look wash across her face, before she shook her head and plastered a smile back on her face. "For me, that would be singing the perfect song, but you know Lauren best. Just think about what she would like."

"Hey, thanks Rachel. That actually helps a lot. I think I may have an idea or two," Puck paused and thought about if he should say the rest of what he was thinking. "And you know, just because things may feel over for you right now, that doesn't mean he's not still thinking about you too. " He wasn't going to say Finn's name, but they both knew who he meant.

Rachel smiled weakly at Puck as he stood up from their table. "Thank you, Noah. That means a lot. And if you do decide you want to sing, let me know and I will help with your song selection."

"Thanks, I think I got it covered now. See ya!"

* * *

Puck's cell phone went off, he was getting a text message. _'Hey man, I just sent you an email, something I think you should know.'_ It was from Finn. They have had a rocky year but things seemed to be smoothing over a little bit, but it was still pretty odd to get a random text from him on a Wednesday evening.

Puck went to the living room and started up the ancient computer he shared with his mom and logged into his email. It was a screen cap of a message Santana had sent on facebook to all the Cheerios plus a bunch of other kids from school with the subject line "Hoggy for Queen!" Puck was pretty sure he wasn't going to like this, but he decided to read on anyway.

"_Since Miss Piggy obviously thinks she's one of us now that she has apparently paid Puckerman to drool all over her (btw, gag me!) I think it would be hysterical if we all voted for Lauren for prom queen. God, can you imagine that heifer squeezed into a prom dress and actually thinking people like her! Anyway, just do it! And tell your friends – Hoggy for Queen! "_

By the time he had read the email, Puck's face was red and his blood pressure was off the charts. "WHAT. THE. FUCK!" he literally yelled at the top of his lungs, thankful his mom wasn't home. He grabbed his phone and texted Finn back , _"So you're positive it's wrong to hit girls, right?"  
_  
What the hell was he going to do? He knew Santana was a bitch and that high school could be cruel, but this was beyond over the top. Why did anyone care who he liked? Why was he fact that he liked a girl with ass & tits and different than Sam liking blondes? Plus, she was a fucking awesome person. Jesus, this was a mess.

When Puck's cell went off again he assumed it was Finn responding. When he flipped it open it was from Lauren. _"Hey Puckasauras, I'm bored. Come play!"_ Fuck! What was he going to do now? He wasn't sure if he should tell her and if he tried to keep it a secret she would see right through him in a minute.

Okay, he would just put her off till he could set Santana straight tomorrow at school. _"Sorry babe, I'm helping my mom,"_ uuuuuuh, what to type, what to type, _"clean under the fridge. See you tmrw."_ That was officially the lamest text he had ever sent in his entire life.

* * *

By the middle of the afternoon, Lauren was starting to wonder if he was avoiding her. Puck wasn't at her locker like he was most mornings. She had almost grown accustomed to feeling a sneaky hand on her ass in the hallways and wheeling around to find him grinning at her, but today - nothing. After lunch she could have sworn she saw the streak of his mohawk ducking into a math classroom._ 'Nah, that couldn't have been him. Puck doesn't ever go to math.'_

It wasn't till after school, right before glee rehearsal that she finally saw him for real, leaning over Santana, his hands pressed to the lockers on either side of her head. Santana wore a sexy smirk, like she had Puck right where she wanted. When Lauren saw his head start to duck towards Santana, she felt the rage and bile rise in her throat before she ran out of the door and towards her car, skipping glee all together.

What Lauren couldn't know was what it was that Puck was saying to his former fuck buddy. Santana just smirked at him while he tried to explain that he really did like Lauren and that she was a really awesome person. When Santana looked at him with her fake innocence and tried to say she didn't know what he was talking about, he leaned in close to whisper her ear. His voice dropped, "I swear to god and everything holy, if you don't lay the fuck off of Lauren, and me for that matter, every dirty little secret you have will be all over this school. Every STD treatment, every sappy love poem you ever wrote for Brittany, everything. Back. Off." He slammed his open palm against the locker as he turned and stormed off. He never saw Lauren standing there or her hasty retreat.

"Noah, where is Lauren?" Mr. Shue asked before rehearsal started. He didn't know and the fact that he hadn't seen her all day was starting to make him feel uneasy. She was the one person that could put him at ease. She felt like home and now that she hadn't been around, even for 24 hours, he could feel himself wound up like a spring.

"I don't know."

Artie chimed in, "She was here today, but I saw her bust ass out of school to her car just a few minutes ago." With that bit of information, Puck leapt up and took off. He had to go to her before something exploded in his face that he couldn't put back together again.

* * *

Her parents' cars weren't in the driveway, but Lauren's was. When she wouldn't answer the door he knew something was wrong. He took out his phone, hoping she just couldn't hear him over the music blaring from her 2nd floor bedroom window. _"Hey babe, I'm outside in your driveway. Can we talk?"_

_"Bite me, Puckerman."_

Before he could respond, another message popped up. _"Oh and I hope Santana gives you syphilis this time."_

_"I think you misunderstood something. Please come talk to me!"_

_"Oh I have eyeballs, I saw it all. How's that whole celibacy club/ becoming a better man going for you?"_

_"It was so not like that! Lauren it was totally the opposite of what you think!"_

_"Oh so you were not within kissing distance of the biggest STD in school this afternoon? Go away."  
_  
_"I'm not leaving till we can talk. Please."_

_"Have fun waiting."_

Two hours later he was still there, sitting in the driver's seat of his truck in Lauren's driveway. She wouldn't respond to any of his texts or phone calls. His head was resting on his steering wheel and his eyes were closed tight. Puck's head jerked back with a start when the large Mr. Zizes started banging on his car window. "Son, what the hell are you doing here?" the big man boomed as Puck climbed out of his truck.

"Well, it's kind of complicated," Puck started before he was nearly tackled by his friend, the littlest Zizes.

"NOOOOOOOOOOAH!" the little girl cried at the top of her lungs. "Mama, mama, mama! Can Noah stay for dinner? PUH-leeeeeeease!"

"Keep talking, boy," Mr. Zizes said as he led them all into the front door of the house.

Puck sat down at the kitchen table with Mr. Zizes while Mrs. Zizes started setting the table and Ella went upstairs to find her favorite My Little Pony to show Noah. "The thing is, there is this girl I used to… um, date at school." Ella walked into the kitchen and plopped herslef down next to Puck. "She's… um… not a very nice person. She was trying to play a mean joke so I had to tell her she should stop it. It was a pretty intense conversation and Lauren saw and I think she thought something else was happening that totally was not, I swear!"

"Well, we should just go tell Lulu she seed things wrong. I get stuff wrong all the time!" Ella piped up.

"Saw, honey. Saw things wrong. And sometimes it's not as easy as that. I'll see if she wants to come down to dinner." Lauren's mom was really sweet and she could tell from how pale and sick Noah looked over this whole situation he was really concerned about it.

"Honey, it's mom, can I come in?" Lauren's mom called from the other side of her locked door.

"I'm fine, Mom. I just want to be alone."

"No you are not fine. You only play _that _music when you are sad or angry. You know it helps to talk about things and get them all out in the open. Let the fresh air shed new light on the situation!"

"Mooooooom, it's Flogging Molly, not just some music. And it's been a long, very crappy day. I just want to forget the world for a while."

"Well honey, I'm afraid that's not possible. Your friend Noah is here for dinner. He's down with dad right now." Lauren's door flew open in an instant.

"You left him ALONE? With DAD? Oh god, oh god, oh god…" Lauren was nearly chanting as she flew down the stairs so quickly it almost seemed as if she were levitating.

"I don't know what I believe, Noah. But you need to keep in mind that she is my baby girl and if you hurt her… I don't mind going BACK to prison."

"Daaaaaaaaaaaad! Stop it!" Puck's eyes were as big as saucers. This was the first "intimidating dad" routine that he actually believed. "He's never been to prison. He's a big freaking teddy bear. Dad can you give us a minute, please."

"Sure thing baby girl, I need to go check on the meat on the grill anyhow. Ella, you wanna come be my plate holder?" The little girl scampered off with her father and Lauren finally turned to look at Puck.

Her cheeks were tear streaked and her hair was a mess. He didn't look much better, he was pale and had dark circles of worry under his eyes. "Babe, I promise, I swear on my Nanna, nothing happened with Santana. I was just talking to her."

This time Lauren was calm and cool. Too cool actually, that kind of scared Puck. "Then why were you so close to her face? What could you have possibly been discussing so… intensely?"

"Listen, it's stupid. She was being a bitch and I was telling her to knock it off. I wanted her to know I was serious."

"You were within kissing distance, as Quinn puts it. And honestly, unless you tell me the whole story, all the details, I don't think I can believe you." Puck knew now was not the time to try to save Lauren from the ugly truth of her classmate, he needed to tell her the whole truth. The whole story came tumbling out of his mouth, from Finn's first text message to the Glee rehearsal when he figured out what she must have thought.

"And I promise you, you are the only girl I want to kiss. And celibacy club is helping me be a better man, which I need to be if I want to deserve you." Lauren's eyes softened and she smiled at him. A real, big, genuine smile.

"All I want from you is the whole truth all the time. Don't pretend like you're gonna save my feelings, cause all the shit comes out in the end anyway. I don't need a white knight, I just need you to be up front with me. And maybe a couple more of those kisses like at the baseball game wouldn't hurt."

His grin was megawatt status as he started to make his way over to Lauren to give her what she asked for, right as Lauren's family burst back into the kitchen. "Dinner's ready! BURGERS!" Ella shouted.

"Please stay for dinner Noah, we have plenty." Lauren's mom asked with a quick glance at Lauren to make sure it was okay with her.

"I would love to, thank you." Puck sat down next to Lauren while Ella pouted. She wanted to sit by Noah, she didn't get to show him her pony yet. Puck leaned over and whispered in Lauren's ear, "But what do we do about Santana?"

Lauren whispered back, "Hell, let her do my campaigning for me. I'd make a better damn prom queen than her!" Puck just laughed and had to agree.


	4. Chapter 4

Puck was still fully working out his plan to "officially" ask Lauren to the prom. He wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box, he knew that, but he was still pretty sure she'd say yes. They had spent the week after their first fight finding new and creative ways to make out anywhere they could find. Unfortunately for them (and Puck's sad, sore balls) they tended to get interrupted before anything really good could get going. It is hard thinking of what could be worse than being discovered by your mom while on the couch top of a girl who has he shirt up around her neck and you can't physically manage to jump off of her quickly ('cause… you know) until you get interrupted like that by your mom who is wearing Mickey Mouse scrubs fresh from her shift on the pediatric floor. That damn mouse is worse than a cold shower.

Lauren was equally sexually frustrated as Puck, but she realized the sad truth – with Puck's celibacy pledge (of fucking stupidity) they wouldn't be getting any relief anytime soon. Her teammates spent many a locker room conversations (while Lauren was safely out of earshot in the girls locker room lest they lose their family jewels) on what in the hell was making their team captain such an extra super mega bitch recently. One kid was pretty sure she was actively trying to snap his collarbone during one practice. It hadn't been a pretty time.

Puck hadn't seen Lauren since that morning at their lockers. When he was walking to class – or more accurately a place to hide from class – a hand shot out to grab his shirt and drag him into the janitor's closet. "I never got the rest of my 7 minutes, and now that you don't suck at kissing – thanks to my superior tutelage – it's time you pay up, Puckerman."

Lauren's hands fisted the fabric of his t-shirt and pulled him up against her body and crushed his mouth to hers. The whole scene went down so fast, Puck's mind was still catching up to the situation. Lauren could tell the second he finally got it when a guttural groan escaped his throat and his hands snaked around her waist and under the back of her shirt. The feeling of his hand on her bare skinned nearly burned her with the heat they created. She barely parted her lips for a nanosecond before his tongue was there, teasing her lips, tasting her. Her tongue met his and danced while a purr of appreciation vibrated their mouths.

The heat of the kiss was instantaneous, but they both felt it climbing impossibly higher. Puck's hand slipped down to cup her soft round ass through her skirt. _God, how did I not know about asses like this for so long?_He wondered. They begged to be grabbed with two hands and worshipped. He pushed Lauren till her back was up against the wall where he could press fully against her whole body. She was so used to being in total control in every situation, that she found it unbelievably hot when he took control like that.

Her sigh turned into a moan as Puck kissed down her neck and found that spot at the base of her neck that he discovered last Sunday afternoon. He sucked on the spot until he could physically feel her knees go weak. His hand moved from her ass to under her thigh and lifted her leg and she wrapped it around his waist. She could feel his obvious arousal through his jeans pressing against her it a way that created way more need that it satisfied. He groaned his appreciation of her body when he found his hands under her shirt, cupping her heavy breasts. As their mouths crashed together again, Lauren raked her nails down Puck's firm stomach and started to unbutton his jeans.

"Fuck… fuck… stop." Puck managed to stammer before he extracted himself from Lauren's body and leaned up against the opposite wall.

"You have GOT to be kidding me," she all but screamed, not even concerned if anyone in the hall could hear them.

"We can't babe," he started has walked came back to her, holding her tightly in a much more platonic hug, "not here and not like this."

"I am fucking dying here, Puckerman. This whole celibacy business is bullshit." He separated from each other again.

"It's more than just celibacy club. Don't you want our first time to not be in the presence of bulk toilet paper and barf cleaner? Plus, I'm in no better shape than you," he nodded toward the bulge pressing painfully against his jeans, "my wrists have been fucking killing me for a month!"

"I swear to god, I have spent more money replacing worn out vibrators the past two weeks than my entire life combined. This is going to kill me."

"Okay, that mental image is _not _helping my situation," Puck groaned out with eyes glazed over. "Plus, you should be my official girlfriend before we… uh, release the hounds."

"Oh since when do you care about that, Mister Preginator?"

"Since now. Since… you." It wasn't just a line, Lauren could tell and that scared the shit out of her. Puck knew it too, this was something different than every other time and every other girl. "Plus, I need some space to let the Puckasauras do his best work."

Lauren just smiled and shook her head at him and adjusted her skirt in place and ran her fingers through her tossled hair. "Well, you haven't earned being my boyfriend yet, so we better get moving. Maybe if you actually go to math class today you can get a 'good boy award' later."

"Yeah, if you want me to be able to walk into that class, I better start thinking about baseball or running over mailmen or something." They chuckled and walked out of the janitor's closet toegther. The looks on the faces of their classmates in the hallway were a priceless mix of confusion and jealousy, but neither of them even noticed.

* * *

His stomach did a flip as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. _What the hell is wrong with me?_ He was pretty sure she wasn't going to say no. He wasn't nervous about that, he just wanted it to be… right. He wanted her to feel special and happy and all the ways he made her feel. _Okay, let's do this thing! __  
_  
He texted her, "Hey, I'm getting overrun by the ankle-biters. Can you come to B&G club and help me out?" The longest minute in the history of the world ticked by before his phone buzzed alerting him to a message. "Yeah, no prob. This test is gonna be cake anyway. Want me to come inside or to the field?"

Whew, he blew out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Field. We're already out here."

"Be there in 5," she texted back.

"Okay guys, do you all have your papers? Let's line up, she'll be here soon." Puck had literally never done this much preparation for anything in his life. He came into the Boys and Girls club the day before to help the kids each make and decorate their papers. He got Artie to come by and bring his video camera in case she wanted to see the whole thing after the fact. He even asked her Mom and Dad if it was okay to ask Lauren to prom. He felt very… gentlemanly. And that was something he very rarely ever felt. It wasn't all that bad.

He made sure the kids were lined up in the right order and stood next to them when he saw her walk out the back door of the club towards the field where they were standing.

"Uuuuh, what the ffff…," her eyes darted to the kids, "…french toast is this?" Lauren asked looking genuinely confused.

"Hey babe," he walked over and took her hand, "I have something to ask you."

"Hell no, I am way too young and hot to get married," she said as she slugged him in the arm. He just grinned like an idiot at her and said "Okay, now!" to the kids.

They all flipped over their signs. Each one was holding a paper with one letter, decorated and drawn by the kids, spelling out "Go to prom with me?" The girls' signs were all glitter and heart stickers. The boys had camouflage letters or were covered with dinosaur stickers.

"Oh… OH!" Lauren said, realizing what was happening. Puck saw her eyes get glassy for a second before she quickly blinked that back. She squeezed down on his hand.

"Well, do you want to go with me?" he asked. Before she could answer the kids interjected "Come on Miss Lauren!" "Go to the dance!" "You could smoooooch!" She just laughed and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "No shit, I will go with you. You didn't even need to ask."

He was so happy to hear her answer, he grabbed her up in a bear hug and kissed her hard.

"EWWWWWWWWWWWW!" came the chorus from all the boys.

They broke apart and Lauren shouted to the kids, "Okay, okay, you rugrats! Come give me your letters and get ready to play!"

She didn't even notice Artie there with the video camera till she turned around from collecting the signs the kids made and brushed a small tear from her cheek while her back was turned to Puck and the kids. Artie just smiled and waved from behind the camera.

"If this ends up on youtube, Wheels… let's just say, I am plenty strong to shotput you _and _the chair into Michigan!"

"Can I call you my girlfriend and beat the shit out of any guy who looks at your ass now?" Puck asked as they held hands and walked out to where the kids were already starting to play catch with each other.

"Unless Vin Diesel asks, in which case I am totally available."


	5. Chapter 5

In the weeks leading up to prom, Puck and Lauren spent more and more time together and more and more time horizontal on any surface they could find. Somehow, Puck managed to stop them every single time. Lauren never thought she would think this, but she was starting to wonder if it was something he didn't like about her. _Fuck, I am not this girl. I am not this much of a pussy. _But in the life of every girl, a little doubt must come. Puck touted the love of her curves – his hands we constantly exploring her round ass, gripping her wide hips, nuzzling her breasts. But always through her clothes. Every time she took a shower now she looked at her body with more of a critical eye than ever before. Was he scared what her naked body would look like? Maybe he just didn't know what to expect having fucked so many skeletors. Lauren had to stop and physically shake these thoughts from her head. She was sexy as hell, she was a badass and there was no way in hell she would let anyone believe she thought anything different.

* * *

He really didn't think celibacy was going to be this hard. Not only had it been way, way too long since Puck had been naked and sweaty with a girl, but also Lauren knew all the ways that drove him crazy. She knew just the way to roll her hips against him that made him see stars and that spot right below his earlobe that could make him whimper like a puppy with just one little lick.

But there was this other feeling she inspired in him – the one that made him feel both like his chest was exploding and caving in all at the same time. He didn't spend enough time to dwell on that feeling, other than to note it was totally different than any other girl had every made him feel. The thing that really stopped him in his tracks with Lauren, or at least before anyone took off their pants, was something Miss Pillsbury said in celibacy club. Granted she was a freakshow and he highly suspected that she had never been properly fucked or she would never be wound so tight. One club meeting she was talking about the why of sex and celibacy.

"Most teenagers who have random sex are really trying to fill a need for something else in their life. Kids say they do it because it feels good, but it also fills a spot where something real should be, and they don't even know it. But that filled-up feeling only lasts so long. And honestly, what does that mean for the partner you just used to fill your own holes? So next time before you engage in the act, ask yourself why you're really doing it – what are you missing?"

That damn freaky redhead always seemed to pop up in his head whenever Lauren reached for his belt or he found himself itching to tear her dress off. _"What are you missing? Noah – what are you missing?"_

* * *

"Hey mom, after you get home from work tonight, do you think we could talk?" Puck asked his mom on the phone.

"Uh, sure honey. Don't we talk every day?"

"Yeah, I know. I mean like _talk_ talk. Shit this sucks already."

"Ohhhhh, I see. You know you can talk to me about anything. It's my job to help you no matter how much you have cost me in lawyer fees and gray hairs."

"Yeah yeah yeah. I get it, bad seed, black sheep, blah blah blah."

"And also my sweet baby boy." He could feel the heat rise in his cheeks and hear the smile in her voice. "I'll be home by 7:30. See you then."

Puck didn't even know what to ask. _Hi mom, do you think I am damaged? What the fuck is wrong with me? Please help me count the ways I have fucked myself over?_ Shit, this was a bad idea. What self respecting teenage dude talks to his MOM about this kind of stuff? But who else could he ask? None of the guys would get it. Lauren was out of the question – half because he didn't want her have to know all his shitty parts just yet, and partially because this involved her. There is nothing that would piss his girlfriend off more than saying "Uh, when we make out I think of our guidance counselor."

* * *

By the time his mom came home from work, every muscle in Puck's body was tighter than a drum. He wished his mom let him drink beer in the house and that he never signed that stupid alcohol pledge of Mr. Shue's. When his mom joined him at the kitchen table he was bouncing his kness, wringing his hands and not looking her in the eye.

"Oh no sweetie, is Lauren pregnant?"

"God, mom! No, we haven't even… Jesus, just no."

"Oh, whew! Okay. Listen, I am here for you. I want to help, you look like you are about to launch into orbit. No kid your age should have that much stress. Please talk to me." Her voice was so sincere and when he looked up into his mother's face he finally felt safe. This was the same face that kissed his boo-boos and took bailed him out of jail after the ATM incident. If anyone could help it was his Mom.

"Okay, there is no way to be cool about this, so here is goes. I joined celibacy club at school." Her eyebrows shot up so far they almost fell off her forehead. "Okay mom, wipe that expression off your face, I know."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry honey. Go on."

"At first it was because Lauren was so hard for me to pin down I thought the idea of hanging out celibacy club would be like the constant cold shower I needed. But then the advisor said something that kinda… stung me. She said that when people randomly hook up it is to fill holes in their hearts. And… well… I fucking suck at that introspection bullshit. I just need to figure out what made me so messed up about girls."

"I don't think you're messed up about girls."

"Mom, please. You know that I have messed around with lots… and I mean LOTS of women. Something is wrong with me."

His mom audibly sighed. She knew his reputation. She even heard some plastic stepford wives talking about their hot pool boy in the grocery store one day. Let's just say she needed to walk away when they started discussing his "side services" before she punched some bitch with more money than brains. "What do YOU think is the problem, Noah?"

"That's the problem! If I knew I would fix it and I could get on with my life. But I don't know. I try not to think about this shit."

"Well, Noah, it's just been me and you for so long now. Let's just be honest with each other. Being just me and you hasn't always been easy. I've had to work so many hours just to keep the rent on this house paid sometimes. You saw far too many of my "boyfriends" come and go and some of them were not so nice to me. No kid should have to see that or worry about their mom. For that I am so sorry."

Puck's eyes were glassy with tears that he would not let fall. "Jesus, that's not your fault."

"You never got to know your dad… to tell the truth I hardly did either. That's also not fair. Kids deserve to have parents that are there for them and love them. The sad thing is it would have been easier if he died, but I think it hurts you just as much as it hurts me to know that he is out there and just doesn't care enough to be with us."

"He's just an asshole, I know that."

"But don't you see what I mean? You need to be able to tell yourself that you _do_ deserve a father to love you and teach you things and help take care of you. But you didn't get one and that fucking sucks."

One tear finally snuck down his cheek before he brutally pushed it away. His mom laid her hand across the table as an offer. He could tell this wasn't any easier for her than it was for him. He finally realized that they both were cheated out of part of their lives they deserved. He grabbed her hand and held it tight.

"But also, probably… there's Beth." Pucks chest fell and he could feel the tugging at his stomach that he buried every time he shoved away the thoughts of his daughter. "I know you don't want to talk about her, but you probably need to."

"There's nothing to talk about her. I fucked up. I ruined Quinn's life. I couldn't give my… daughter… any kind of life. Plus it wasn't my choice, it was Quinn's. Not like I had a say. I didn't deserve to be her dad."

"Noah, you and Quinn made the best decision possible. I think maybe you need to talk with Quinn about Beth. I bet she understands more than you realize."

Puck looked at his hands and sighed. "I don't know mom. I'm pretty sure she would rather castrate me than talk about it, and quite frankly self-castration sounds less painful."

"I know, but you deserve to feel whole, Noah. You deserve it. I love you."

"Thanks mom, I love you too."

He walked to his bedroom like he was on autopilot. His mind was a zillion miles away. What was there even to talk about with Beth? But his mom was a smart lady, maybe it would help.

* * *

This rapid decrease in their time together was doing nothing to help Lauren's mounting, but still undetectable dammit, insecurities. Puck wasn't ignoring her, he was still at her locker in the mornings. Still held her hand during glee, still kissed her goodnight in his truck. He just wasn't really there.

_You know what? I don't need him up my ass all the time! I am just fine being on my own! Maybe some girl time is called for._

Lauren texted Tina to see if she wanted to go shopping for prom accessories and then to get pizza on Thursday night. Tina was more than happy to get the invitation, she needed new black gloves to go with the dress she ordered online. Plus it got her out of kim chi night for dinner at her house.

* * *

Quinn was totally unsure about this whole, "Can we talk over pizza?" email from Puck. Call her crazy, but it kind of alters a relationship when they watch you push a human being from your nether regions.

"Yeah, I guess. Thursday is my only free night. Meet me at Valentino's at 7:30." She hastily typed back.

* * *

Lauren knew that tiny Asian was up to something the way she kept hollering her name or randomly breaking out in dance at the pizza place. It took her a few minutes before she saw Quinn and Puck sitting in the booth in the farthest part of the restaurant. Tina anticipated some huge knock-down, drag-out fight a la the Santana beat down (that shit was EPIC and alllll over youtube). But Lauren didn't seem fazed.

"Oh yeah, Puckerman said he was busy tonight. Guess we had the same idea for dinner."

Tina was thoroughly confused. Lauren never even let the flicker of doubt cross her eyes, the doubt that was raging inside her. This time she didn't freak out that Puck was up to something, she just doubted herself. _Puck is too hot for you, Zizes. It's not his fault. _She smiled her way through dinner with Tina and headed home without even showing her presence to the pair in the corner who were now passing papers to each other.

* * *

_Hey Baby Girl, can I come over tonight?_ Lauren phone buzzed with the message in her pocket. She smiled that the nickname he heisted from her dad. But her face just as quickly fell thinking to the scene she saw the day before at the pizza place.

_I'll be here all night, _she texted back. No smiles or nicknames or sweetness.

When he arrived she had hardened her heart for what she assumed was the break-up discussion. Walls firmly in place. He kissed her chastely, and that cemented the idea in her head. They were over. He was breaking up with her for a "hot" girl. They went up to her bedroom where she sat in her desk chair and turned away from him as he plopped on her bed.

"Don't you wanna join me?" he said is his leering, look-at-me-I'm-a-sex-shark voice.

"I'm busy, what's up?" She answered without even turning around from her engaging game of Farmville.

"Okay, well. So. Yeah. You know how we haven't done it yet." Puck managed to stammer out at the back of her head.

"Yeah, I noticed. And really, I understand. Not every dude is man enough to find my body as sexy as it clearly is." She was deliberate not to let her voice waiver, but she never turned around to face him.

It finally clicked in his head. The way she was acting the past couple days. The flicker of pain that crossed her eyes when he stopped their physical romps. _Oh no, she thinks it's her._

"Fuck me! Please, no, Lauren look at me." When she wouldn't he got up off the bed and turned her chair around and saw her eyes full and her bottom lip caught between her teeth, but her arms crossed over her chest in steely determination.

"Puckerman, it's fine. I get it. Quinn is fucking breathtaking. If I were you, I wouldn't be wasting your time here either. I'm not mad, I'm not sad, it's cool."

Puck dropped to his knees in front of her and put his head in her lap. "Please, baby, listen to me. I have fucked up my whole life. I fuck up so bad, I managed to fuck up _other_ people's lives in the process. I can't… I'm just not willing to let myself fuck us up. I can't. I refuse. This is… you are… too good. You are… I just… I want to deserve you. Please let me explain." Her eyes softened at the pleading look on his face and the sincerity in his voice. She stood up, pulling him up with her to sit on the edge of her bed.

"Miss Pillsbury said this thing about people using random sex as a way to plug up hole in their lives and I couldn't look at you and know that I was doing that to you. You make me feel so… different. I want us… our first time to be right. I need to be able to be a whole man so that when we do it, its because I want to show you how I feel. Not to get off and feel good for a few hours, you know. Does that even fucking make sense? Shit…"

Lauren just nodded silently.

"So I talked to my mom. About my fuck-up dad. About all that shit. She suggested I need to talk to Quinn about Beth. I never thought about it much, I never let myself. But we met and talked. I guess I didn't think it would hurt so bad to feel like I was being the same loser dad my dad was to me. And Quinn didn't think it was a big deal to me. That I just thought of Beth as a mistake. But then we talked. She showed me her pictures. Here, look," Puck pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and flipped it open to show a photo of a beautiful baby girl with his dark hair and Quinn's clear blue eyes. "Isn't she beautiful? And she's doing really good. And Quinn doesn't actually hate me. And it was just good to talk. And I didn't think I would need to talk about Beth, but I did. I felt a thousand pounds lighter walking out of that restaurant."

Lauren nodded and added in a soft but steady voice, "Yeah, I saw you there. I went with Tina. I thought… I thought it was something else." Puck cut off her words with a swift kiss. His hands held her cheeks and he kissed her hard till he felt her relax.

"So I am sorry if I haven't given you what you wanted in the bedroom. And maybe this makes me a girl, I don't care. I just need more time to get my head right. You're too perfect for me to fuck this up."

She felt like this was the first time she exhaled in a week. "We're too perfect _together_ to fuck up. And I'm sorry I let myself think it was because I wasn't pretty enough for you. That was insulting to you. I should know by now to trust you. And trust that I wouldn't let myself fall for some asshole."

His eyebrows rose at her mini confession. "Where you falling to, babe?" He teased as he pulled her into a playful kiss and tickle to her ribs.

"Tickle me again, Puckerman and I promise you will lose the ability to sit for a week!"

"Promises, promises."


	6. Chapter 6

It was one of those spring afternoons where everything finally felt like it was coming alive in Ohio. The sun was bright and the breeze was blowing in through Lauren's open window. They had so few of these glorious days when neither of them had any practices or rehearsals or commitments. And in a stroke of absolute god-loves-me luck, her parents and sister were still gone for the day until at least dinner time.

Lauren never intended to test their resolve by ending up half naked on top of Puck, but times like these it always seemed to happen. Maybe it was that smirk. Or the way he twirled her hair around his finger when they were supposed to be "just cuddling." Or the sound he made when she pressed her ass back into him in response to the hair twirl– a low rumbling "mmmmmmm" like he had just bitten into a bite of something really warm and tasty. But like every other time, here she was, straddling his hips with her shirt open, his hands cupping her breasts and his mouth on her neck, making what was sure to be another amazing and totally unhideable hickey.

Lauren sat up quickly, forcing his hands and mouth away from where they wanted to be. His confused, sad little boy face was quite possibly her favorite. "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey…" he whined.

"We need to discuss prom. I have ground rules."

"I'll agree to anything you want right now, babe," Puck murmured as he tried to entice her to resume their activities with a hand on her hip and one skimming fingertips over the curve of her belly (just like she loved, that bastard).

"One. I do not ride in limos. Period. If I wanted to make an entrance, I would have six half naked men carry me in on a golden platform. Two. If you bring me some monstrous corsage with covered in ferns and baby's breath, I _will_ vomit. Three. There will be dancing. And four. I get to plan after prom activities."

"Those are totally fine with me," Puck managed to strangle out and rolled his hips up to grind against her. "Now come back here." This time she let him pull her back down to him and flinged her shirt totally off on the way down. "You are evil," he mumbled against her mouth before her flicked open the clasp of her bra with one hand.

* * *

Lauren spent the afternoon with Tina, Rachel and Mercedes at the salon getting their hair done and talking nonstop before they all descended on Lauren's house to do makeup and get ready together. Rachel was still floating about three feet off the ground that she was going to prom with Finn after his spectacular and very public breakup with Quinn.

They were all in Lauren's bathroom while Lauren was bent over the counter trying to figure out her contacts. "Mother fuck me, how in the hell?" she yelled after the fourth time she poked herself in the eye.

"Girl, sit down," Mercedes instructed Lauren, closing the lid of the toilet and washing her hands. Lauren was not so sure about this much girl bonding time, but she certainly was glad for the help. "Just look towards the ceiling and don't blink till I tell you to." It only took one try for the contact to settle where it belonged and Laure blinked a few thousand times.

"Oh thank GOD!" Rachel said. "Can we throw these things away already?" the tiny girl ranted holding up Lauren's grandma glasses.

"Hey, those are retro chic!" Lauren protested, but Tina just grabbed them from Rachel's hand and tossed them into the small garbage can.

They actually had a lot of fun sharing make-up and showing each other new tricks and tips. Like how Rachel's eyelashes always seemed so impossibly long. "Falsies! I brought you guys some too!" Rachel bounced over to her bag. Tina's eyeshadow skills, Mercedes' impressive lipstick selection, and Lauren's hidden but extensive perfume collection . "Tell anyone and I will hunt you down," Lauren said before she opened her closet door to show them the dozens of bottles on a shelf.

After Puck, Mike, Finn and Sam arrived, Lauren's mom finally knocked on her door. "It's show time ladies!" All of the boys looked amazing in their tuxes, none exactly the same. When Lauren walked down the stairs in her black strapless dress, Puck's mouth went dry and his eyes went wide. She looked amazing - her hair was wavy and wild, her dress accenting all the best parts of her curves. And Lauren almost tripped down the last step when she caught sight of Puck. His tux fit him like a glove, black pants and shirt with a white jacket – and the look in his eyes made her mouth water.

After exchanging flowers, shockingly similar single red roses – his for his lapel and hers for her wrist, and posing for approximately 800,000 photos, they finally linked arms to get in Puck's truck. "Oh shit, the bag!" Lauren turned on her heels and grabbed a small duffle bag waiting for her right inside the front door. Puck raised his eyebrow at her in a silent question, but Lauren just smiled and continued towards the truck without a word.

The gym looked equal parts amazing and tacky, which surprised no one. Within seconds of laying claim to a table with their glee friends, Puck was being pulled onto the dance floor. Every song was one of the girl's favorites, or offered an opportunity to dance up on his girl – hands on her swaying hips, or even a chance to just hold Lauren close and breathe in her scent.

When the song "Better Together" started playing, Puck pulled her in even closer to him. "I hope you're having fun. You're the most beautiful girl in here." Lauren's head was nestled against his shoulder but he could still hear the snort she let out, so he let the conversation drop and started lowly singing along to the song.

_Love is the answer,  
at least for most of the questions in my heart.  
Like why are we here? And where do we go?  
And how come it's so hard?  
It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving.  
I'll tell you one thing,  
it's always better when we're together._

* * *

"Where to now, pretty lady?" Puck said as he climbed behind the wheel of his pickup.

"Mike and Tina are throwing a party. Mike actually convinced his mom to let him stay out all night, how I have no clue, and they got a room at the Holiday Inn."

"Let's hit it, mama!" Lauren laughed at his corny ass harder than she had laughed in a long, long time.

They easily found the room where there was an obvious party going on. All of their glee friends were already there. All the guys had abandoned their tux jackets into a communal pile on a chair and the girls were hitching up their dresses and dancing wildly to the music blaring from the stereo someone brought along. It appeared as if they were the last ones there because the room exploded in choruses of "Puck! Lauren! Paaaaaaaaty!" when they walked into the room.

Someone handed them each a red solo cup from the makeshift bar someone set up under the window. The stereo rang out the first few notes of Pink's "Raise Your Glass" and people nearly exploded in half drunken excitement. Blaine and Kurt started to literally bounce while they sung at the tops of their voices.

Puck took a tiny sip of his drink and leaned over to whisper (okay, yell) into Lauren's ear, "How long are we staying here? I don't think I should drink this if I am gonna drive, it's about 800 proof." She just smiled coyly at him and squeezed her hand into his, pressing their own keycard into his hand.

"We don't have to worry about driving, let's have fun!" She gave him a wink and a peck on the mouth before she joined the bouncing girls nearly tearing the roof of the place singing "dirty little freaks" with their red glasses shoved high into the air.

* * *

They held hands while the silently walked to their room. Neither one of them would admit it, but there was a very real tension hanging in the air between them. Puck slid the card into the reader on the door and they stepped in together. "Thanks for coming with me tonight. I know prom is not your thing or whatever, but I had a lot of fun." Their eyes both settled on the one king size bed.

"Yeah, I did too." The ensuing silent pause was more than awkward. Neither one of them even attempted to make eye contact. "Look, I didn't mean this room as a we-have-to-have-sex-tonight thing. I just wanted us both to have fun at the party without worrying about driving," Lauren sputtered without looking at Puck.

Puck looked up at her and smiled. Lauren could let go of the breath she had been holding since they left the party room. He crossed the distance between them quickly, "I would never give up a chance to sleep next to you" and kissed her softly as his fingertips played with the bare skin of her back above her dress. His kiss was gentle and with it he tried to pour into it all the emotions that he didn't know the words for. It wasn't even in the same ballpark as their normal, please come tear my clothes off kisses. Not that this kiss wasn't also sexy as hell and made them both breathe a little harder.

"Why don't you go get the bag from your truck? I brought you some sweats and my stuff is in there too. I'm gonna hop in the shower and get ready for bed." Lauren kicked off her shoes and turned around so Puck couldn't see the blush rising in her cheeks from his kiss. "Can you unzip?"

He came up close behind her without making a single noise. Her pulse quickened when she felt him slowly start to lower the zipper. Lauren wrapped her arms across her chest to keep the dress up. She heard a noise, like a hitch in his breath a split second before she felt his hot breath on her exposed back followed by his lips marking the descent of the zipper. Each inch, each kiss, sent a bolt of electricity to her lower belly, where she most certainly didn't need to feel more electricity right now.

When he reached the end of the zipper, Puck turned Lauren around by the shoulders, meeting her eyes with his own heavy lidded and full of desire. Silently he picked up her arms, allowing her dress to fall to the floor. "Holy mother of…" She was standing in front of him, more exposed than she had ever been, just a strapless corset and black lace panties between her nakedness and him. He was instantly on her, hands buried in her hair and mouth at her neck, breathing in her scent and nipping at her skin.

This time he kissed her so deep that she didn't even begin to notice her lungs burning for air. When he finally pulled away it was to look at her again. This time his hands followed his eyes – down the curve of her breasts - which were close to escaping their confines as hard as Lauren was breathing, down her sides to her waist, across the roundness of her belly and hips, down her thick thighs as far as he could reach and still have his mouth crushed her hers. He nipped at her lower lip a breathed, "so beautiful" into her mouth. She had reached the third button of his dress shirt before she stopped herself and plated her hands firmly to his chest.

"Not yet. Celibacy. Drunk. Shower. Bag." She had completely lost the ability to form complete sentences. She was right and he knew it. He backed to the corner of the bed and sat down. "Uggggggh" was all he could manage to say as she turned around and headed into the bathroom. The view from behind was no less magnificent than the front. He sat in the same spot of the edge of the bed, listening to the shower turn on. He needed to give himself a few minutes before he could walk down to his truck without physical pain.

The cool night air cleared his mind a little as he paced by his truck. _She's right, we can do this. We are about way more than sex. _He grabbed the McKinley High duffle bag from the truck and rushed back to the room.

He unlocked their room door, thankful the shower was still running. He opened the bathroom door and was greeted by the sound of her voice, "Come on baby, light my fire. Try to set the night on fi-rrrrrrrrre!" He just grinned to himself. "Babe, I am throwing the bag in on the counter." He could hear her mutter "shiiiiit" as the pulled the door closed and had to laugh out loud. _God, I love a girl who can rock the Doors. _

She came bouncing out of the bathroom still wringing out her hair with a hotel towel. She was wearing a white tank top and boy short panties which appeared to have the superman symbol on them, but Puck couldn't look hard enough to know for sure. _Fuck, those're even hotter than the other ones._ He jumped up and nearly ran to the bathroom. "I ordered us a snack, it should be here soon," his voice trailed away as he slammed the bathroom door behind him. She seriously had no idea the effect she had on him or the fact that his shower was ice-fucking-cold so he could resume brain function.

Lauren flopped down on the bed and grabbed the remote. She found a marathon of the original Star Trek series from the 60's as the room service guy arrive with their snack – French fries, cheesecake and Dr Peppers. _Oh man, this boy __**gets**__ me. _

"I thought I smelled deep fried awesome," Puck said, sauntering out of the bathroom in the sweats Lauren brought for him and the naked skin of his chest still damp. I was her turn to swallow her groan of appreciation. He grabbed a fry and popped it into his mouth and he jumped into the bed next to Lauren. They laid side by side, up on their elbows, enjoying their snack and joking around. Every time their elbows or feet brushed up against each other, both of them felt the jolt. It was all very friendly and playful until Puck insinuated that Captain Kirk was not the best captain in the Star Trek franchise, and obviously Lauren had to put him straight.

Their wrestling match only last a few minutes, but it was long enough for both of them to be sweaty and panting. Lauren's shirt had been tossed to the other end of the room and Puck was finding even his sweats were getting uncomfortable. They pulled apart reluctantly and Lauren said, "We should probably sleep, it's really late."

"Um, yeah sleep. Good plan." They got under the covers and laid stiffly next to one another, careful not to touch. It had been a long, long day, and in spite of the tension, they were both asleep within minutes.

Puck was the first to wake up well after 10am. He didn't even open his eyes to rub the sleep from them before he was halfway to the bathroom. Although he wasn't hung over, he drank enough the night before to feel ready to burst when he woke up. He stumbled sleepily back towards the bed, but stopped short. The sun was peeking through the heavy curtains and was creating slivers of light slicing across Lauren's body. She was lying on her stomach with her arms folded under her head and all the blankets kicked to the floor, her back completely bare and the bottom of her ass just peeking out from the bottom of her panties. _God, she's amazing. Last night was perfect. Nothing in the world could have made it any better._

It was the exact moment that he realized he finally wasn't missing anything. What they had together was perfect, even without sex. He didn't need it to feel completely and utterly happy when he was with her. It was like the last piece of their puzzle was finally snapped into place. He felt whole.

He crawled into the bed next to her, trying to disturb her as little as possible. He pressed himself close to her side and wrapped his arm across the small of her back, pulling her closer into him. She made a noise like a small baby animal when he started nuzzling the back of her shoulder. Her eyes opened slowly and she grinned at him sleepily. "Good morning," she croaked out.

"Good morning babe." Puck ran his hand up her side to the side of her breast. "You are beautiful."

"I think that sentence would have made more sense last night before I had pillow creases on my face and morning breath." She chuckled as she pulled her arm out from under her pillow and rolled to face him.

He kissed her slowly and deeply. "You're perfect right now," he breathed. They were both slow and smooth, moving like honey. She could feel his hardness press into her thigh through his pants. His fingertips played around the edges of her panties until he slipped a finger underneath to rub along her folds. Her gasp made his eyes snap open. He was amazed by the deep blue color of her eyes and the passion he saw there. He started to kiss his way down her body, beginning to remove her panties. "Can I please?" He looked up at her with pleading eyes, kneeling on the bed between her opened thighs.

"But, but… what about…?"

"It's time. I want to. I need you."

"Do you really want to be _that_ prom night couple?" She teased him.

"It's not like it's your first time or mine. Plus, it's not prom night… it's morning now." He looked at her with his signature crooked smirk before he began his descent again, kissing her soft belly. He pulled her panties totally off and gave them a toss, not caring where they landed. "Perfect," he murmured at her neatly trimmed sex, more to himself than for her sake. He teased her with light kisses and licks along the inside of her thighs while his fingers began the exploration of her folds. "Oooooooooooh God," escaped he throat before she could swallow it back. He smiled and sunk and finger into her wet pussy. She bucked slightly toward his hand, driving him deeper. He rolled his finger around inside of her as he started to lay soft kisses on her clit. "Oh my god." She didn't even try to hold it back this time. He loved the sounds she was making for him. His heart swelled knowing that it was him that could make her feel this good. He added a second finger inside of her and began a sucking and licking rhythm in earnest. When he felt her starting to tighten around his fingers, he curled them forward, finding that spot that sent her hurdling over the edge. She gripped the sheets next to her body and screamed incoherent syllables.

Puck was grinning like the Cheshire cat as he rose from his position between her legs. Lauren's chest was flushed pink and her hair was splayed out around her in a crazy mess. He thought she looked possibly the most beautiful he had ever seen her look. She grabbed his head and pulled him to her in a fierce kiss, tasting herself on his tongue and groaning into his mouth. He continued to kiss her with all the fire and passion they had been building for months. Her hands left his head and reached down to pull off his sweats. He was impossibly hard and she moaned her approval of his manhood and his pants went flying. She opened her legs further to him and hooked one around his hip.

Puck pulled his face back from Lauren's to look in her eyes. "Are you sure?" he asked making sure she wanted this as much as he did.

"Please, yes. Now. I love you." He wasn't sure if he even heard her right with the blood crashing through his veins so hard he could hear the rush. He lined his erection up against her wet entrance and locked eyes with her and pushed so slowly inside of her. He was desperate to make this last and make sure she wasn't hurting. It had been a long, long time since either of them had done this. "Oh Noah," Lauren moaned when he stopped, buried fully inside her. He had been supporting his upper body on his hands on either side of Lauren's face. Hearing her say his name like she had never done before, he sank to his elbows, pressing their bodies fully together. She wrapped her other leg around him as well, digging her heels into his ass, urging him deeper.

"I fucking love you," he said never removing his mouth from their kiss, starting to move inside her. His thrusts started slow and even but quickly became faster and more erratic every time she moaned or threw her head back. He could feel the tightening in his stomach and slipped his hand between them to stroke her clit while he continued to move inside her. Her body slammed up, meeting his every thrust before she froze and began to tremble. "Oh fuck! Noah!" she screamed. It only took a split second before he was exploding with her, her name all he could say.

He stayed frozen in the same position catching his breath and watching Lauren's chest heaving until his muscles finally screamed at him to move. He rolled off of Lauren and pulled her into his side, stroking her face and the hair off of her forehead. He kissed her gently.

"And why the fuck haven't we been doing that for months now?" Lauren said with a voice full of just fucked haziness.

He just laughed out loud. "So it would be that amazing when we did."

"Well, you better not make me wait another five months to do it again," Lauren laughed as her hand rested on his hard stomach and curled herself against him to put her head on his chest.

"Never again, I promise." He paused. "And I meant it Lauren. I do love you. I know we're only seventeen, but I don't care. I love you more than anything in the world."

"Puckerman, you are really a big sap, you know that?" she smiled and rolled herself on top of him, straddling his hips. She leaned down pressing her breasts into his chest and her lips to his ear lobe. She whispered, "I meant it too."

"Round two?" he asked and she could feel him hardening underneath her.

"Five minutes is muuuuch better than five months," Lauren said as she reached down and guided his hardness into her and sunk fully on to him. "Much, much better."


End file.
